When Good Advice Conflicts

I have been thinking lately how confusing my life has been lately, at least in terms of what to eat.

I want to avoid foods that I might have a sensitivity to, like corn and wheat. It's also not a bad idea to avoid the common allergens, like milk, tomatoes, peanuts, and soy.

I want to avoid foods that are 'goitrogenic', or hinder the thyroid's ability to make thyroid hormones. This might include soy, cruciferous veggies (broccoli, kale), peas, radishes...everyone's list on which foods are goitrogenic. Some people also think that cooking these foods makes them less goitrogenic, but some people disagree and just think you should avoid them altogether.

I want to eat 'warm' foods and avoid 'cold' foods, like my acupuncture guy tells me. I am still a novice at understanding which foods fall into which category. Apples are cool, watermelons are cool, but ginger, sweet potatoes, and lamb meat are all warm.

I want to eat more "whole, plant-based" foods, as raw as possible, to get their maximum benefit of nutrients and enzymes. Eating foods just blended or juiced up is eating them 'cool' though, which the acupuncturist does not recommend. Eating foods more 'whole' is supposed to be great for helping your body heal, but for me it seems to depend on the food itself and how much fiber (from the skin of the fruits and veggies) gets in the juice.

I want to avoid foods that might exacerbate arthritis and inflammation, like tomatoes and all those nightshades. But eggplant is on the list of things that won't hurt my thyroid.

I want to eat herbs and foods that are anti-inflammatory, like fish and turmeric.

It doesn't take a genius to see that all of this 'good advice' conflicts. I have more trouble than most people do when I'm staring into the pantry. Even more confounding is when people disagree about which foods are this or that and how to prepare them and what's best for who and when. I'm having trouble finding common ground in all these schools of thought.

Therefore, I am going to attempt a Venn diagram to help me figure out which foods I cannot eat.

It doesn't matter that you can barely see this because it's confusing as hell. I didn't even include the 'whole-foods' business because basically Chinese medicine and a whole foods, plant-based diet conflict greatly. Eating warm Chinese foods also conflicts with the arthritis foods--most of the foods that might cause arthritis (peppers, eggplants) are WARM and are foods that the acupuncture guy told me to eat.

In short....I'm confused. Anything in moderation?